Sancho VI, byname Sancho The Wise, Spanish Sancho El Sabio (died June 27, 1194) king of Navarre (Pamplona) from 1150 and son of García IV (or V) the Restorer.

Sancho was the first to be called king of Navarre; previous kings were known as kings of Pamplona. In 1151 Castile and Aragon signed at Tudillén a treaty for the partition of Navarre. By skilled diplomacy Sancho avoided the destruction of his kingdom, accepting Alfonso VII of Castile as his overlord and marrying Alfonso’s daughter. He himself intervened in Castilian affairs during the minority (1158–70) of Alfonso VIII. In 1176 both countries submitted their longstanding territorial disputes to Henry II of England as arbiter, who assigned Rioja to Castile. Sancho accepted this decision. He was a legislator of importance, conceding many municipal fueros (charters) and protecting Jews and immigrants (francos) from the north.

Learn More in these related articles:

comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of northern Spain, officially known as the Comunidad Foral de Navarra (“Regional Community of Navarra”). It is roughly coextensive with the Spanish portion of the historical kingdom of Navarra and coextensive with the modern provincia...

1104? August 1157 Fresneda, Castile king of Leon and Castile from 1126 to 1157, son of Raymond of Burgundy and the grandson of Alfonso VI, whose imperial title he assumed. Though his reign saw the apogee of the imperial idea in medieval Spain and though he won notable victories against the Moors,...

(from Latin forum, “marketplace”), in medieval Spain, a municipal franchise conferred on a community by the crown or by a noble or bishop. It granted legal incorporation, confirmed local customs or privileges, and might include rights to taxation or self-government. The word is also...